USG Blog

Union Street Gallery has been honored to work with local cultural organizations, businesses, and municipalities to be a part of Let Them Eat Jazz! This is a group effort to put on events around the centennial of Jazz.

You can learn more about what each organization is planning during between now (February) and April 2017 by checking out the S.A.M.B.A website. You can also get an overview by check out our S.A.M.B.A section of this website. Our event is coming together quickly and more details will be available soon.

We will be having the reception for both The Long Walk Home and Second Coffee / Prints from The Bird Machine this weekend.

The Long Walk Home is presented by Bandolier Press from NIU. Much of the work is printmaking based, but not all. We are happy to have three pieces from accomplished artist, Michael Barnes, along with the talented emerging artists affiliated with the university and press. Erin DiGiovanni has three pieces on display, including Miserly Concealment. This piece was just award first place in the Speedball Screen Print Category of their New Impressions Printmaking Competition.

Second Coffee / Prints from The Bird Machine features work from Jay Ryan, Ashley Elander, and Ben Chlapek. Creative Mornings has a video of one of his lecture available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX-75PAXhe0 You can see more of these Chicagoland artists work at their websites; thebirdmachine.com, drawashleydraw.com, and neversleeping.com

Stop by this weekend to meet the artists, see their work in person, and have some great conversations.

Union Street Gallery is looking for works for art that engage with the common object. These are the objects we take for granted in our everyday life or know we could not live without. Art for this exhibit should take a moment to reconsider the common object. Artists may reexamine or alter the common object in their work. Submitted works could also provide a lens for the viewer to see the objects in a new perspective. Art should engage with these objects through concept, media, or both.

Juror| Carrie Ann SchumacherCarrie is a multi-media artist living and working in Chicago. Several of her artistic endeavors play with “common” objects. Her dresses have utilized pages of romance novels to provide commentary on feminine myths. To address our modern perspectives on communication and the impact of how we connect through technology, she incorporates monsters to her imagery.

CalendarFebruary 4 Submissions DueFebruary 8 Notifications SentFebruary 9-11 Drop off work during regular gallery hoursFebruary 14-16 Drop off work during regular gallery hours (Tuesday 12-4pm)February 16 Last day for work to arrive if being shippedFeb 22 – March 25 Exhibit OpenFeb 25 Reception, time TBDMarch 29 – Apr 1 Pick up workMarch 31 Work shipped out with prepaid shipping labels

Eligibility Open to artists 18+ living in the United States. All media will be considered. Original artwork only. No art previously exhibited at USG in the past 2 years will be accepted.

Fee FEES DO NOT NEED TO BE PAID UNTIL YOU ARE ACCEPTED AND CONFIRM YOU PARTICIPATION. $30 for up to three submissions, $20 for up to three submissions by USG Studio or Guild Artists, or USG Members, $10 for up to three submissions from currently enrolled college students (forward a copy of your ID or current tuition statement to info@unionstreetgallery.org)

Submission ProcessPlease visit https://unionstreetgallery.submittable.com to submit artwork for our juried shows. JPEG preferred, but any file type the Submittable platform accepts is fine for the jurying process. JPEGs will be needed for promotion of accepted works. WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT SUBMISSIONS THROUGH THE SUBMISSION WEBSITE – DO NOT EMAIL OR DROP OFF ANY WORK OR PAYMENTS. If you have trouble with the submission site – here is there FAQ for help (http://help.submittable.com/knowledgebase/topics/11810-submitters). Their phone number is 855-467-8264. Image should be the artwork only, no frame unless it is essential to the artwork and do not include your name or any watermark or logo on the image itself.

Size & Weight Specifications No shipped work over 75 pounds will be accepted. Any artwork over 75 lbs. MUST be hand delivered, installed & picked up by the artist or representative. Artwork must be able to fit through front doors. Door opening is 5 feet wide, 6ft tall, 7ft diagonal. If your work is accepted, please contact the gallery to arrange a delivery/installation/pick up date and time before travelling here.

Use of Images and Name Images of accepted works will be used for promotional purposes: postcard, social media posts, emails, press releases, etc. Art that is accepted will appear on the USG website, provided the gallery receives an acceptable jpeg. Artists are responsible for forwarding the postcards and email invites to their own contact lists. Your name will be used in various promotional purposes as well. Accepted artists will be sent a consent form with more details.

Sales Union Street Gallery, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization, retains a 30% donation from any sale resulting from the exhibition. The gallery handles sales tax for the artists.

Insurance USG provides no insurance for artwork while on premises or during shipping to and from the gallery. Artists are responsible for insuring their artwork.

DeliveryAll accepted entries being shipped must arrive by 4pm, February 16th, no exceptions. All accepted entries being hand delivered must arrive by 4pm, February 16th, no exceptions. Please contact us early if you may need to arrange alternative times – this is a not a guarantee we can accommodate your schedule. See calendar for delivery and shipping dates. Accepted work only, no substitution. Curators reserve the right to refuse work that does not meet the requirements, is damaged, considered too fragile for exhibit, is misrepresented in the image, or simply will not work for their vision once they begin curating.

Labeling WorkWe strongly suggest you affix a business card and a label including the title, artist name, media, year completed, and price to the back of your piece permanently. We also require an additional label be affixed temporarily for our use during hanging. You can use the labels at the end of this document as needed. The temporary label should be attached to the back, frame, or plexiglass and be easily removable and not damaging (something like painter’s tape).

ShippingShipped work must be packed in a reusable container with appropriate packing materials. NO PACKING PEANUTS PLEASE. Artwork will be packed up in the same manner it was sent. The gallery will not provide additional packing materials. If artwork is framed and being shipped to the gallery, please use plexiglass in the frame, not glass.

Artists who ship their work are required to provide the gallery with a prepaid return shipping label by the week before the end of the exhibit, March 18th. Label can be mailed or emailed. Artwork shipped USPS (postal service) are also required to have a prepaid postage label, NO STAMPS. The gallery does not cover any shipping or postage costs.

The gallery will schedule a pick-up for artwork being shipped UPS or FedEx GROUND ONLY on March 31st, 2017. Artists using an alternative shipping method * must arrange for the pick-up of their artwork from the gallery on March 31st, 2017 between 12-4pm. * Alternative shipping includes FedEx Express or FedEx Air. The gallery does not bring artwork to a UPS or FedEX store to ship out.

Pick-upHand delivered art must be picked up March 29th – April 1st during regular gallery hours. Please contact us in advance if you need to make alternative arrangements. Art remaining at the gallery after the designated pick-up deadline will be charged a $5 daily storage fee, unless arrangements have been made in advance. Artwork left after 30 days becomes property of USG.

InstallArtwork must be delivered ready to install. • 2-D work must be prepared properly for hanging with wire, if framed. • Unframed works will be hung with binder clips and push pins. • Sculptures must sit sturdily on pedestal or floor. The gallery will provide pedestal unless artist is otherwise notified. • If artwork requires more than 1 hour to install, USG would prefer to schedule a time when the artist can install the work. Otherwise the piece will be included if there is staff time available to install. • If artwork weighs over 75 lbs, the artist must install themselves. If the artwork is to be hung, the artist and gallery director must talk to determine if this is feasible and whose responsibility the hanging and un-installing will be.

USG reserves the right to install accepted works in a manner deemed necessary for exhibit or security reasons. All work remains on exhibit for duration of show.

Thank you to everyone who came out to show his or her support to Union Street Gallery by attending the reception for Handmade Market on November 19th. It was amazing to see so many friendly faces as the calendar year comes to an end.

I was thrilled to spend my second Handmade Market reception with everyone. It has been an exciting year getting to know the Union Street Gallery community. I appreciate all the time and effort everyone has made to help me get acquainted with the gallery, associated artists, and local community in general. The warm reception to some of the changes I have implemented this past year has been very motivating.

This past year, the gallery has seen about 3,000 visitors during 13 exhibitions. We currently have 15 studio artists in the building and numerous other affiliated artists through the Guild, members, and friends of the gallery. Our admission has remained free along with free tours for school groups.

Union Street Gallery continues to provide high quality arts programming in the Chicago Southland. You support our mission in more ways than you know when speaking about the gallery or bringing someone here for the first time. Each time you like one of our posts on social media or forward an email to a friend, you are helping us succeed. The donated supplies, food at receptions, and suggest admission price all help.

Like all nonprofits, the gallery relies heavily on monetary donations that are tax deductible. Consider the following as ways to support Union Street Gallery:

- becoming a member- sponsoring an exhibit, event, or the gallery in general- making a donation

Again, thank you for your support during my first year as gallery director and your continued support of Union Street as a whole. I hope you will continue to be part of our community during the coming year.

Please use the donation button in the footer of our website to make a monetary donation, or click on the #GivingTuesday image below.

In order to focus on the conversation happening within the exhibit between all the works of art, we consciously decided to wait until the end of the exhibit to announce winners. Those of you who have already visited, thank you. There are still two days left to view the exhibit if you want to see the winners in person.

Jeff Lassahn is the first place winner with his Color Me Drone Warfare coloring book.

From the artist's statement:"Color Me Drone Warfare! is a satirical coloring book, with over-the-top patriotic imagery using digital illustration. On a store shelf and online, its intense cover will be a bizarre and distinct contrast to soothing coloring subjects. Some may get the satire, others may be temporarily fooled, and through that it will certainly find its way into unexpected places. This is the latest of several pieces on war that is deliberately playful or provocative in its format, in an effort to reach audiences who may be unfamiliar or distant from the issues, or distant from art in a fine art context."

Gary Schirmer's Lunar Rover won second place.

From the artist's statement:"I’ve been a working artist for forty years, and to a significant degree my work has always had at least one foot in political consciousness. My most recent work involves juxtaposed images of a sometimes seemingly disparate nature in a non-rectangular format, which allude to oblique connections between a conception of nature and a cultural or political construct. On a personal level these works come together via my perception of a politically reactionary postmodern dysfunctionalism. As what seems of late to be an unprecedented American political climate taking hold, through a simulacrum populist outcry courtesy of a “politically correct” and seemingly servile corporate media, any tongue-in-cheek artistic response possible has become compulsory, and last refuge."

In third place is Yuanqing Zhao's Translation.

From the artist's statement:"Translation is an attempt to reconstruct and re-imagine, from a contemporary perspective, a tradition. This thesis research is important in analyzing Eastern rituals and perspectives in a Western academic environment. A ritual is an experience that is highly structured and follows a very specific set of rules. The rules vary to each ritual but the purpose of the rules is to create a sense of tradition and divine experience. In short, rituals are experiences that are created through an intricate and strict structure, in a sense; chaos from order.

Translation focuses on the interactions in/with water of tea leaves, ink, paper, poetry. Taking Wallace Steven’s Tea at the Palaz Hoon (1921) and cutting out all the words, I have mixed those individual words with paper, analogous to the interaction between tea and water. Consciousness vanishes and notion being in the world is achieved for myself and observers. Tranquility and serenity are brought upon the observers in their ergodic interpretations of my work (Espen J. Aarseth 1956 -– ). When I am making tea in a cup, tea leaves float on the top in the beginning but slowly and very gradually, individual tea leaves sink to the bottom of the cup. The concept of movement, in general along with relevant experiences are behind Translation."

Juxtaposition means to place two things closely together, and in the artistic sense those two things are placed together to show contrast either visual or conceptual. In many ways that is the lynch pin of this show. National calls for art are by their nature a mixed bag and can often be upsetting to the curator, and gallery. In this case, it worked out. This show, “Politics Now” is a dialogue about our political system and our social and economic paradigms. The variety of work and radically different styles, methodologies, concepts, and aesthetic choices made by the artists was immense. Rather than seeing this as a detriment, I saw it as an opportunity to construct a narrative that is a metaphor for the political theater being played out in our living rooms on the evening news and on the world stage. The works are “separated” into vignettes, small intimate conversations that one might hear as one passes through the room to the bar area, at a social gathering, a polite conversation here, a colorfully worded discourse of opposing ideas there. This separation is meant to highlight the binary nature of our current political /social environment. A deep systematic shift to the far ends of our political and social-economic system has happened. There is now a strong sense of division and suspicion of anything or anyone that is the “other” from our ideological viewpoint. The democratic process is devolving, or at least the perception is that it is devolving into a brutish, xenophobic, “my dicks bigger than ours” pissing contest or a soft pseudo-utopian, utilitarian coward state, or somewhere in between. This show speaks to and tries to assuage that fear, I hope.

Our national juried exhibition, Politics Now: the art of sausage making, is now open. This Saturday (October 1) is the reception for this exhibition from 4-7pm. The juror, John Gutierrez, will speak about the exhibition at 4:30pm. The exhibit runs now until October 29, 2016.